It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard from Proton’s Race Rally Research division. The last cars that they had put their tuning touch on was Proton Waja MME and the Proton GEN2 MME back in 2006. Because their first product was the Proton Satria R3 based on the Satria GTI, many have been anxiously waiting for the R3-tuned version of the Satria Neo to debut. The wait is over, and the Proton Satria Neo R3 is here.

Read my test drive report after the jump.Click to enlarge

Firstly it’s important to note that this is not the same Proton Satria Neo R3 as the model buyers are going to receive. The car I drove was the development unit and some specifications differ. For one, the Neo R3 will come with slotted front brake discs and Mintex M1144 performance brake pads, but the car you see here had the stock brake discs and brake pads fitted.

The wheels are also not the same – the test unit came with 17 inch Enkei alloys, but the production Satria Neo R3 will come with Advanti SG15 17×7 inch wheels. The tyres are the right ones though – Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin in 205/40R17 size, but even these were not in the best condition when I picked the car up. Nevertheless, the Adenalins are fantastic tyres and I am using them on my Proton Perdana.

The 1.6 litre Campro engine under the hood is the original Campro – no IAFM, no CPS, no VIM, no nothing. The only thing it has is R3’s touch – new 8mm spark plug cables, an R3 tuned exhaust system and an R3 ECU with remapped settings. All of this boosts power up to 135 horsepower at 6,100rpm and torque up to 164Nm at 4,200rpm, which exceeds the usual normally aspirated 100Nm per litre of displacement ratio, so that’s quite impressive. Or at least it all looks so on paper.

The torque dip of the original Campro it is based on is as prominent as ever, rearing its ugly head at you as you wait patiently for the revs to build up past 4,000rpm. Then the engine comes alive and very much in your face as with the power build up, the loud noise and vibration increases. Somewhere past the 5,500rpm range the engine note suddenly changes without any warning – it’s really quite unacceptably loud and there’s too much vibration while not delivering the kind of power you’d expect from such a racket. This plays down the 135 horses abit – it’s there but your sense of sound overwhelms your body’s internal “torque-o-meter”.

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The Recaro SR4s perform well hug you and the front passenger, but because I am rather large my thighs did not feel very comfortable – I think the seats were too tight! A thinner person would feel very at home in these seats. The Momo Tuner steering wheel with the wheel spacer was fantastic – the spacer brought the steering wheel closer to me and I was able to sit in a better position for aggressive driving. Without the wheel spacer, the bottom of my wrist would not be able to touch the top of a stock Satria Neo steering wheel mounted on a stock steering column. I was taught this driving position by the experienced instructors from the BMW Driver Training program and I find that it does really help you control the car better. The downside to this is the indicator and wiper stalks are now way too far for practical usage and your fingers will not be able to reach them while your hands are still on the steering wheel.

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The shift knob is another matter. A study by a company which I cannot recall at this time showed that the best shape for a shift knob is one that has a pure ball-shaped top. Anyway I don’t need a study commissioned to tell me that a ball-shaped knob would feel the best in one’s palm. The shift knob that R3 put in the Neo is a ball, but it has a flat top. The flat top doesn’t feel too good when your palm is resting on it. The reason for the flat top is so that R3 could stick a sticker on it… you get either an R3 logo or a 5-speed slot logo, it’s up to you. Anyway, the photo shown here is the gear knob that was installed in the test unit, but this is a gear knob from the Waja MME and I think the actual gear knob is actually silver and slightly bigger in diameter.

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The suspension is alot firmer than a stock Satria Neo’s but the ride was still acceptable over the bad roads in Cheras. Even though the car had lowered ride height, the undercarriage never scraped speed bumps. There’s no need to awkwardly cross speed bumps at a diagonal angle slowly and allow everyone queueing up behind you with this car. There is minimal body roll until you push the car with autocross-like maneuvers and that is when the car begins to lean abit. As expected from an FF car, it understeers under pressure, no surprises there. But it was really sticky around corners, quite impressive for tyres that are not in pristine conditions. Steering feel and feedback was decent, but the same cannot be said about throttle input which has a rather typical Campro lag to it.

Pushing the car up to speeds of 140km/h to 160km/h was easy. The car’s rather minimal sound proofing combined with the loud engine and firm suspension that feels rather unstable on our trademark Samy-fied(tm) highways makes pushing this car to high speeds beyond the 140 to 160km/h mark rather tiring. Acceleration went down, but noise went up. Lots of fatigue. Hard to tell what was contributing to the noise, but you can be sure the stiff Adrenalin tyres contributed to it.

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Aesthetic dressing up includes the trademark Incognito Black paint, an R3 bodykit that consists of a a new front and rear bumper, side skirts, and an R3 rear spoiler. The trademark red and white R3 stripes are also on the car, something which many Proton owners are copying now. In the engine bay, the R3-tuned Campro engine gets a red aluminium cam valley cover, an aluminium oil cap, and an R3 brake master cylinder cap. The 8mm spark plug cables mention before are also red in colour. On the inside, other than the Recaro SR4s done up in red and black, the rear seats and door trim also gets red and black themed upholstery. Even the seat belts are red, and the floor mats are black with the R3 logo on them. The 3 foot pedals were the standard Neo foot pedals, which came across as rather surprising to me.

Pedals remain standard – disappointing!

The Proton Satria Neo R3 definitely has the looks and a suspension setup that promises oodles of weekend fun, but the engine really leaves something to be desired. R3 should definitely look at doing a second run of the Neo R3 if/when the Neo gets the Campro CPS engine. With stock power levels of 125 horsepower, it should be possible to push the CPS engine to nearly 160 horsepower, with plenty of kick across the whole rev range. Also, the car’s full “track-throughbredness” potential could not be sampled through this test unit because the brakes were standard.

10 units of the RM71,000 hatchback have already been delivered to owners and the next batch of 10 have already been booked. That makes 20 out of the 50 car limited run spoken for at the time of launch, and probably more have been snapped up now. It is built from the mid-line Neo, which means no airbags or ABS. The owner of the first Proton Satria Neo R3 in Malaysia is Hidekazu Misawa, a Japanese expatriate in Malaysia. He says he was drawn to the car’s blend of performance and style and he will be bringing it back to Japan.

What the Satria Neo R3 is: a cheaper, more hardcore version of the Suzuki Swift Sport oozing Malaysia boleh-ness. 135 horsepower out of a 1.6 litre with just ECU and exhaust adjustments while still remaining JPJ compliant is impressive. Unlike the old Satria R3, this time around the Satria Neo R3 wasn’t marketed with data like Sepang lap times, so this may have downplayed the excitement abit. It’s still a decent fun drive, but it’s very single-purposed. It’s the sort of car where there’s only one way to drive it – all the way up to the redline and not anywhere else in the rev range, and around the bends rather than straights. The Neo R3 does well in what it’s supposed to do, but while I can imagine the Swift Sport as a daily driver, not this.

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.

NIcE!!
Bring it back here to Japan!
I really want to have a look at Japanese face when they saw Malaysian car.
They probably don’t believe it come from Malaysia although proton actually have Japanese DNA.

what a dissapointment. i was expecting some beast but it turn out to be a sheep in sheeps clothing. i could just get a M-line neo and plug those stuff on it. the engine is a major dissapointment. proton R3 sport dept should have developed a bigger displacement. i dont think i want to cruise 160kmph when the old satria GTI would able to hit 210kmph. tengku should stop drifting and concentrate on building better cars that could go against civic type R and etc. please define your R3’s.. rally,race and research.. what research? just plug and play which any boyracer could do.

The car looks good. No doubt about that. In fact, when the neo first debutted, I thought it was already great looking. With the new aesthetics, it looks even better. However, very disappointing to read that it doesn’t come with the CPS and VIM. R3 should really consider this as Paul has mentioned.

Paul, the loud noises you mentioned, won’t that make the car sound old/junky? Also, the power chart looks really dippy. I’m pretty sure the CPS will take care of that wouldn’t you say?

this is nothing more than a neo that’s taken a trip to the sunway mod shops!!! i cannot believe that proton allows R3 to exist simply to make bodykits, stiffer suspensions and all.
and no airbags and abs??? what??? what is r3 thinking? even the most dedicated cars nowadays have those, take a look at the civic tyreR.
and okay, if its a track car wannabe, 135hp??? pls lah…
i was so looking fwd to this as i used to own a gti, and that was a very pleasing blend of decent power, handling, with adequate comfort and safety. this has none of the above except maybe handling at the expense of comfort. i loved that car!
its looking like the r3 guys know very little of suspension tuning beyond plonking in stiffer everythings. and if they do know anything it certainly doesnt show here.
piece of crap for 71k. and i’m no proton basher. read above abt my gti ownership.

Is it just me or it looks like this being a half baked product from R3?

while I like how it looks, it doesn’t have the “go” associated with the looks. Why not use a retuned version of the CPS/VIM engine? This is really pathetic and dissapointing. I was hoping they would “cure” that torque dip in the base Campro by clapping on a supercharger.

The 1.6 liter Campro engine under the hood is the original Campro – no IAFM, no CPS, no VIM, no nothing. The only thing it has is R3â€™s touch – new 8mm spark plug cables, an R3 tuned exhaust system and an R3 ECU with remapped settings. All of this boosts power up to 135 horsepower at 6,100rpm and torque up to 164Nm at 4,200rpm…

to achieve 135hp, 164Nm with js change of spark plug cable, exhaust system and remap ecu!

its sad to c people doesnt see that…some even said it’s just plug and play, where is the research n stuff…the question to those who bash…do u know it’s hard to get that much more hp from NA engine with just those 3 mod? especially stock ecu even with piggyback is hard to achieve that if we did not mod intake n cam n other things that u tot its ez…

pls la, where would u find an engine that have no turbo charge, no vvt-L, no any so called advance intelligence at work. of cause if they use cps, things would be much better, but tat would be so much delays for current neo drivers that waiting for r3 parts for neo! pls dnt be selfish guys…

anyways.. people talking on the forum arent going to buy the car anyways.. the ones that put their money where their mouth is have already done so, and bought the cars, or booked them.

but to be fair, almost the same level of criticism was placed on the 1st generation satria R3. the 4G93 n/a engine then was untouched, straight from the gti donor car, except for a different exhaust system.. everyone was blah blah blah, where thes super/turbocharger, or the 2 litre this and that, etc. etc.. but all cars were sold out anyways.. as for the noise about “safety”, this car was always bordering on the extreme anyways, and its lacking a lot of creature comforts..etc., like the 1st gen car, the 2nd gen car does away with ABS and also airbags. but there is a philosophy behind it. if someone doesnt subscribe to it, thats their choice.

but then again, for what it was intended, a streetable car, yet good for fast weekend drives and trackdays, it was extremely fun and driveable. best of all, it was a lot faster than what was written down on paper.

i think at the moment the satria gti (99-04) is well sorted hot hatch, although its not a mivec or turbo, the displacement is 1.8 is good for fun enough,
handling is sharp, stable with some level of comfort even at higher speed,
interior is harmony scheme -silver and black, with aluminum gear knob and pedal,
lotus like alloy wheel is not an aftermarket look, ground effect styling is superb depicting lotus, and it works,

razor_clawzz,
“BTW, donâ€™t you have anywhere else to take your arguments with you?” I’m just curious about your last comment there. does this mean you are now policing this blog and anyone with valid arguments that you do not agree with should take them somewhere else? or was i wrong with my interpretation of your sentence?

btw, the 4g93 puts out 164nm of torque as well, exactly the same as this campro based neo R3 albeit at different RPMs.

Paul, is it true all the 10 neos have been delivered, as far as i know [R3 Salesperson] they only delivered car no 5 last 2 weeks and total orders are only 10 units as they opened it for only that amounts. And I was also informed by the salesperson that the car will be using Enkei rims as in the pics.

btw guys if the Jap can appreciate n become the owner of car no. 1 y dont we have the same perception like him, of course he can buy Evo, GTR or whatever beast he wanted

at least low down your comment la

Paul Tan says: proton’s press release says “Like its predecessor, only limited units of the Satria Neo R3 will be built. The first 10 are gone and the second batch of 10 units is already spoken for with a limited production run of 50 planned.”

@fastcx
Agree wit u. This Neo R3 hv proven that N/A Campro can provide power that’s achievable wit a 1.8L engine (a performance engine at that)!! Compared to 4G93 in the old Satria R3, Campro is only 5hp less n 4Nm less. Amazingly, Campro achieves max power at the same rpm (6,100rmp), and max torque at 4,200rpm, compared to 4G93P at 5,600rpm!! Screw the torque dip, u can get max grunt at lower rpm, n from the graph, it looks pretty flat all the way to five thousand sumthin rpm.

Those who think this car is like just sendin to sunway mod shops, think again: do those mod shops do testing n give warranty to u? Nope, YOU become the rat, n in the long run, u’ll bet wit ur wallet on how reliable it’ll be.

Another thing, dun we Msians hv an obsession wit anythin Japanese? Just wear a T badge on a car, n no matter how crappy it is, it’ll sell. So, for a Japanese expat to appreciate n recognise this car’s performance n styling, dun we ought to believe in ourselves too? Shame on us if we can’t. Instead, we’d b picky on silly little stuff like torque dip, no “sporty” alum pedal cover, too noisy, gear knob not fully round, speculating the top speed is 160kmph, et cetera. I’d like to see if anyone hv the guts to complain that an Enzo or Ascari A10 is very noisy, n I mean complainin in a I-hate-it-bein-noisy way.

It may b noisy, it may be stiff, bt it certainly isn’t as nighmarish to drive on normal roads as a Lotus nor far too weak against a Lotus on a track. It can go speed bumps pretty well, and it’s Lotus ride n handling is as excellent as ever. All for RM71,000. May sound expensive if u buy it on an accountant’s advise (since their fav car is oni Toyotas), but I suppose if a true petrolhead were to be your advisor, he’ll say it’s a very cheap price to pay to put a big smile on your face. Just buy an alum pedal cover from Carrefour, it’ll be perfect n everyone’s happy.

tokmoh: i think the whole perception by people that this is a sunway job is because the previous r3 satria had alot more done to it – chassis stiffening, weight reduction, etc. it may be that the neo in standard form does not need much weight reduction at all (explains the standard neo’s disappointing nvh as well) and the fact that the neo already has a stiff chassis.

i took this review from a full driving experience perspective and the gear knob really did not feel good in the hand at all, so i felt i must say it. the car IS fun.

proton GL: i dont know about you but i feel that because the neo does not have steering adjustable reach the wheel has always been a little too far away for me. i appreciate the steering spacer alot.

Good attemp by Proton, but the R3 is only avarage at best. Pity about the weak engine too. Im not saying it should have more than 200hp, but should have at least given it 150-160hp. And no ABS and Airbags? In todays standard thats unacceptable even for track biased budget hot hatch. But i guess for malaysia’s low standards ppl will just brush it off and say its ok. Overall the car appears too “aftermarket”, and nothing about this car is innovative at all. Just looks like an incompetant manufacturer trying too hard. A car like this, no matter how good looking, is just so cheesy.

The SR3 chassis is stiffer from SGTi and any other SGTi on tracks have double spot welding as to SR3 while Neo chassis which welded using robotic arm is sufficient for the power produced

I cant imagine if NR3 weight is further reduced, sure NVH will be like hell and i guess further lightened is only by throwing the rear wiper which i guess will be no harm to the proud owners and admirers

very nice looking…and very impressive to up the engine horsies from 110 to 135….quite a feat….but this type of cars are NOT meant to be used as main cars….

too hard riding and too rough……but this is campro for u…..good pick up…almost no midrange…and top end like uve never seen before in a 1.6L engine !

but the price is hight…last time the satria GTI r3 was selling around 74k wer the std one was around 68k…so nt much difference…bt a std neo of around rm50k and this R3 around 7xk…diference is quite alot….

and another point is the noise…..a big contributer is the crap midbox….i chnaged mine to a smaller thinner one….it definatly reduces the noise and is even smoother…..

e-nabilll, perhaps u can try formwork’s full exhaust system set ;) at the price of 1280 including installation! and improvement of around 10hp and 8~15Nm can be achieve, Reuben Wong is 1 of them who involve in research n development of this system.

back to topic, i love the full round gear knob of stock neo’s more than r3’s, 1st is the neo’s leather warp around partial of the gear knob feels good to touch, compares to metal and persona’s harden version. curious y proton do not use the same gear knob on persona..

As for the noise paul complained after 5500rpm, is something annoys us also, but a quick change of full exhaust set, u gets a sweeter sound n better performance out of it ;)

1 more thing, perhaps those who replied mentioned that a 1.6 performance engine should hv around 160~170whp…a quick question for u, do u dyno ur car b4? or u js read how many whp u hav through brochure?

Paul Tan says: the specs list I have indicates the vendor for the exhaust system in this car is formworks. not sure if it is the same exhaust design, or just manufactured by them.

and this r3 is just limited edition, n also limited to malaysia if not mistaken, so screw the airbag i think haha if u mentioned 4 airbags n abs is standard, perhaps your t vios e spec is not up to standard

Airbags? Its a MOMO steering wheel for goodness sake. They don’t have airbags in track cars. They’ve got roll cage, wear helmets and multi point harness with quick release. There’s no ABS or EBD or other 3 letter words.

But yes, even though I was hoping for a Neo R3, this does not make the cake. I wouldn’t put an R3 label on this. Not with that engine. I’d pay 74k for something else. Like a 2 liter engine. Or go to Powerzone and get a supercharger fitted. But I’d still be stuck with this torque curve.

I used to own the Satria GTi and despite some valid negative comments mentioned ie. no 220hp engine etc.. I believe R3 knows why the cars would sell. Those who appreciate the SGTi and Satria R3 would definitely appreciate this. Was never about monster power. It was always about the sheer handling pleasure.

Also though I think it loses a bit on marketing because the engine has no CPS, VIM I don’t think it matters to those who know why they’d want the car. CPS and VIM are features meant to assist mid range torque ie. town driving because the CAMPRO engine has that torque dip at mid range. If you’re gunning the car your mid range matters less. High rpm power virtually the same in CAMPRO CPS and sans CPS.

Don’t know about this new NEO R3 but the original prototype I saw was supposed to have longer duration cams which which would have downplayed the need for waiting for the CPS Campro.

for you people who think its a track car, think again.
the engine’s weak, the suspension is not stiff enough, nor is it tough enough, it has no roll cage or additional stiffening of any sort, it has no harnesses.
and chances are the wannabes who buy this in a lame attempt to look like real racers end up using it 95% of the time on the public roads where there are other cars, stop and start traffic, noise, and yes, potholes!
and by all accounts i’d venture to say that driving one on a daily basis and getting stuck in jams while getting a rather good workout from the suspension will make the excitement wear out quite fast. plus the noise from the engine and road and wind, whew…
and when u do actually hit something or get hit i’d love to see you still smiling and extolling the virtues of buying a track car wannabe while busting your skull open on the momo wheel.

proton GL: i dont know about you but i feel that because the neo does not have steering adjustable reach the wheel has always been a little too far away for me. i appreciate the steering spacer alot. (paul)
———————————————-
for me a standard neo steering reach is good for me (not own neo),
actually never drive the one with momo or sparco before, in a neo,
the nature of this sport steering here is flat, if normal aftermarket boss is used it probally the wheel tend to be a bit foward,(far reaching),
unless the sport steering itself have a concave spoke,

so there is a rational for steering spacer used here,
but anyway there are always spacer selection in order to suit the steering design and the drivers driving position,(then this will be too serious driver)

i ve tried before changing sport steering, really hard to find the best driving position sometime its a bit too close sometime a bit too far, as i wouldnt change the sweet spot of fore and arf and the rake of the seat,

then what happened, i have to change to a standard steering for the best position,

as what paul said, the r3 might put the best combination i this steering part inerm of seating position steering reach and reaction, this is good.

i dunno when p1 do effort like this people will try to find any weakness on this car…firstly i wan to ask 1 question…wut a performance car meant to you…a quite….smooth ride…luxury interior ker….then go sit on maybach or beemer…this neo just fulfill the speed maniacs need man…even with normal campro engine it still can fly man…the hp of this r3 version is enuf only the torque is a problem…but its still a beauty…common give some constructive comment….how to fit an airbag to a momo steering…learn first la what is airbag abs ebd before demand something that is no need for the pupose of the car…

This car is more towards handling over raw power, personally love my neo on the track especially taking corners, even tho straight line we might lose a bit, but during corners, SIC hv many tricky corners, we can easily gain what was lost if we talk about same class.

trust me, no matter what car u drive, driver is the most important joint but yet its the most vulnerable to break or make it to finish line..

It is what it is, a mildly warmed up hatch. More show than go, which is not automatically bad, but giving it the R3 name was perhaps hasty. Wires, exhaust, remap? Anyone could get the same hardly-extreme mods in an afternoon in Sunway. Would expect better. Seems R3 focused their energy more on the areas that could make the most money for Proton–all the R3 “accessories” that the wannabes will go crazy for.

I don’t really mind it actually, with such a limited run it has about the same general relevance as the Saga RED. It’s definitely an improvement over the normal Satria but lets not get carried away here with ridiculous comparisons (enzo and lotus???) In the end, it’ll do its main job which is showing off around town and tackling the occasional corner, but with a thrashy underpowered engine, body roll and throttle lag, it’s certainly no track monster.

“The owner of the first Proton Satria Neo R3 in Malaysia is Hidekazu Misawa, a Japanese expatriate in Malaysia. He says he was drawn to the carâ€™s blend of performance and style and he will be bringing it back to Japan.”

This is something nice to hear. Usually Its Malaysian buy Jap cars, not Jap buy malaysian cars

Ave,
i believe those are just personal preference. And for me personally, the positioning of the exhaust enhances the look of the car. No offence ya but this is too small of a matter.. Regardless, there are many proud neo owners out there.:)I wished i could have one, but i’m waiting for the CPS, and i know i can wait.

Maybe we should just look at it this way. P1 is improving alot, interms of car design, price and quality. And thanks to all the complaints. But maybe sometime we should give them a pat on their shoulders. at least we know that they are trying really hard to please us malaysians. As long as they are showing good progress. I’m sure they will be able to reach u ppl’s expectation..

whatever is it.. i cant wait for it to eat my dust. i think my moded toyota corolla 93 with just a reprogramme ECU would be able to tapau it anytime.
look garang only… well..a sheep in wolf’s colthing!

I agree with most and disagree with some. Sure it makes so and so power against the 4G 1.8L but do remember this, the 4G93P is one super old engine. Back in it’s heyday it kicked major butt and still does so today.

135hp is impressive judging from the minimal amount of modifications but as most people know, thats only on paper. Wheel horsepower on the other hand is another matter entirely.

I certainly like the looks of it though. Must agree it is a handsome car. The kit definitely drowns out the “Oh so round & cuteeeee” comments from girls when they happen to spot a normal Satria Neo.

Price-tag wise I’m pretty disappointed. Costing nearly Rm28,000 above the Neo’s price for so little is pretty disappointing. The Satria R3 was better specced out than this. As someone mentioned earlier, it is definitely “half-baked”.

No love hate relationship here, it’s just that I really wanted to see if the probability of you, retaliating people’s comments aimed directly at you, at a 110% possibility. I wonder if you should start your own blog on how right you are about Proton cars

Anyway back to the topic, me and my friend had a chat last night about this R3 Satria Neo, on how much “lovable” the original GTi was compared to this. The GTi made minimum (fanatics, I used the word “minimum” okay? don’t start flaming me on this one) compromises as compared to this lightened/stripped Satria Neo M-Line. True, the displacement difference does not deviate much from the 4G93’s performance, but does it have that always astonishing durability? Maybe a GTi ethusiast knows…The GTi was so much more quiet (I believe) and came with industry standard safety features at that time.

Personally, I would like to view this Satria Neo R3 as a mass manufactured Proton interpreted 4 whelled rempit vehicle. You might rebut by saying things like Proton is moving forward, this car will be sold out, etc etc. But let’s get back to the point yah….The R3’s RM2+K extra, it’s really not worth it, but is it overhyped? For me, yes, it’s overhyped as much as AFTA

chap_de_x
i do know what airbags abs ebd are. it looks like you are the one who doesn’t know that airbags can be fitted to a momo or any steering. the evos have had it for years. so do the wrxs.
ok, granted these are much more expensive cars, but does it really need a momo in the first place, instead of airbags?
they could have done it like the gti and fit an airbagged sterring wheel. i don’t hear anyone complaining much of the gtis steering?
the truth is today’s car it is imperative to have airbags, abs as standard. it is just that in our cut-cost-life-is-cheap country where these things are not mandatory. in fact in the US they are already talking abt having VSC/VSA/TRC as mandatory, and yet we still have cars that do not have a single airbag.
if again some people say track car, then fine, let it be allowed to be registered for track only.
in the end i dont know why they just didnt fit in the airbags. doesnt cost much, and would definitely save lives. and i also cannot believe there are actually people defending this. its not defensible people; ferraris, porsches, lambos have it, and these are far purer sports cars. what’s proton’s excuse?

i think at the end of the day most agree that it is half baked bcos it is an R3 product. R3 being a division of proton and having access to data and resources other tuners can only dream of, comes out with a so-called LEV that is no more than a normal Neo (and a midline one at that) with a whole lot of plug-ins that half the tuners in sunway could probably do. don’t go into the warranty issues etc here. we’re talking purely on capability.
for an in-house tuner the least we would expect is a intensive workover of the engine, be it having the capacity increased to 1.8 or whatever, addition of a blower of some sort, or something significantly different that the road side tuners cannot possibly do. culprit mentioned the clio cup, and that is indeed a good example of a properly tuned car.
not this proton souffle (because souffles are half baked and puffed up)

hey, what c*ck are some of self claim pro guys are talking? always compare cake to yong tau fu that’s y there’s a political party put up big billboards and posters doing stupid price comparing

i guess the rakyat also learns and translate from there, no srs lah, no power lah can mod @ sunway lah

u ask the shop owners there either they can do the same, of course yes but still do they admire R3 for its expertise and details? i bet it would be yes

if everything the same then we should degrade other tuning house, everyone can do stuff like mugen, suzuki sport, HKS bla bla isn’t it?

dont service your car at appointed dealers, normal workshop also can change the oil or y dont you do it on ur your own

if put all the things that u think should b in the car then how much it would b?
turbocharge, srs, blala blala then rise until RM80 – 90k.. son of a rich can buy la instead of buying Swift Sport or @ least Vios

as you may read, that package only feature stage 1 and stage 2 mods, there are 3 stages all together. then y bother, should u have money then upgrade la

if u want the srs n ebd to b included, buy the highline model send to R3 and put all the things u wanted, spend how much money u want

its not comparing and the katak under tempurung mentality that’s put proton where it is now.
no airbag nevermind one, malaysian lives are cheap, maybe yours is…
the point is there shd never be any new car let alone a high end car (for proton) that comes without safety features.

Paul,
Since R3 has been drop by Proton(not sure since their web is gone)
So wht relation else they have with Proton? and I wanted to know where is their department running,isit at the side of Kesas highway or the one in Glennmarie?

But my my grouse is the timing of the release. This car is pretty pricy and simply too raw, if you depend on what Paul mentioned.

I mean really, why not wait for CPS to come out? But then I know for a fact that this model has been in testing for sometime now, so maybe at that time they haven’t got a CPS unit that they can test on.

But then if you want something unique, not many on road, and you can take the lack of airbags and the faux high-revving engine then it guess this will tickle your fancy?

some driver feel airbags will make the steering looks uncool…and they dont need one on their car…some driver think airbags is the ultimate things that can save their live….but think again the best safety feature of a car is yourself….drive concern about others and yourself will save yourlife and other..plus improve the driving skill you had you can ddo wonder with your car…no need to depends on safety feature so much…its just a bonus if a car have one….even ABS system can be done manually if u skill enuf….

neoR3 is simply a race-breed car.
driver of this type of car drives only for passion:
hear the beautiful sound made by revving engine,
experience the adrenaline rush while attacking a corner,
& more human control.

r u fit for the car?

i hate electronics interference in my driving. i drive, not them.
i dun need fuel-saving devices. i floor the gas pedal.

I think most ppl forgot who is Proton’s mentor. Also, most ppl forgot how europeans approach car-making.

Lotus is founded under Colin Chapman’s philosophy of lighweight performance. Not founded to save the world through making airbags n ebd, they believe in giving more control to the driver as their ultimate goal. They believe in driver being the most responsible for their safety…and skills. Or to put it in a different wording, rather than spoiling drivers to become lousy wit the sweet PR-ish features of airbags n ebd, they’d prefer the drivers to wake up n be fully responsible of the driving part. Incompetent noobs can gtfo, buy a Toyota n live wit it happily ever after (n maybe sell it back wit good secondhand value). As zerotohundred crew puts it, “this car (Satria Neo R3) will not forgive you if it catches you day dreaming while driving.”

The search for safety is born out of fear, while the search for control is born out of the desire to be free, to clinch on to more POWWAAARRRHHH!!! Why do you think Michael Schumacher always want his car to be faster and handle better instead of “I think FIA shud include airbags as std,” or “I would like to protest the ban on driver’s aid cuz it’ll put more lives at risk,” or “F1 cars shud emulate S-class’ uncrushable cruise control feature which can detect cars 20m ahead of it, and stop the car if the driver don’t”? Even that one-hit-wonder Jacques Villeneuve, whose father died in an accident thinks today’s F1 cars are “too safe”.

Come to think of it, it has been awhile since anyone died in an F1 car. Mayb someone shud review whether “speed kills” and “many ppl died becuz no airbag n abs” are facts or opinion. I just believe that its bcuz today’s drivers are better behaved (Isn’t Hamilton the most annoying mr niceguy u’ve ever seen?), and their cars handle so much better. Stiffness is one thing, but newer F1 cars are lower, lighter, more aerodynamic, et cetera.

That philosophy is inherited to Proton, as their engineers gain knowledge and experience from Lotus. Bt of course there are exceptions, especially when it comes to the cars that’s supposed to be for the masses like the Saga n Persona. Else, why should Proton build a wimp-arse car that’s made to please accountants instead of pleasing true enthusiasts, especially for models which are meant to be sporty? That ought to tell that Proton doesn’t build cars entirely becuz of money, but out of passion that’s instilled to them through Colin’s philosophy.

Btw, words hv it that R3 is preparing turbo kits for Satria Neo. Go to zerotohundred to read more details.

Do take consideration for the ppl who hv to make the decision. Striking a balance is not easy for how to make it practical enuf while not too compromising on the performance aspect. Then there’s the cost and dateline as well. Being in touch wit Azlan Othman (Proton Design’s manager) through his blog (wonder why his blog is still blocked?), I understand that it is an emotional decision, then there’s always the protest simply bcuz of the Proton badge. It wouldn’t hv much trouble if it has that T badge, rite? Those ppl had it too easy, just simply rely on the brand power, and ppl will buy it for “good secondhand value”, “bullet-proof reliability”, even if they’re uglier than a walrus or nastier than a beggar’s clothing. I’ll admit they occasionally make good cars like the Estima, alphard, Wish n some others more, but the rest of the time, they won’t do. Please, nope.

i simply couldnt believe my eyes when we have people comparing f1 lah, michael schumacher lah, to the satria neo r3! it is a road car, and no matter what u say at the end of the day airbags and abs are important. maybe some people fancy themselves as very good drivers, but the sad truth is, almost none are. and even michael schumacher gets into accidents!
“this car (Satria Neo R3) will not forgive you if it catches you day dreaming while driving” does that mean that you’ll pay for it with your life? or with a serious injury?
is this your idea of a fun car???

nice comment tokmoh…love to read it….some people here only comment on p1 story….everything is not rite for them….even i’ll wil admit this is not the best r3 division can do but still it was a good effort. speed lover outhere like me dun rely so much in electronics….i always try to improve my driving skill so when i drive fast i drive with skill to make the journey safer…i believe in myself…i dunnot care so much about comfort if i wanna speed…its about the revving sound and the adrenalin is more important…like i said before if i want comfort i will go sit in a maybach….i drove a standard 1.3 neo before…it was stable enuf in high speed….standard neo i drove almost out meter and still stable…i expect this r3 beast can do more….for speed lover like me neo is a very addorable car in our market..

Have fun on the track n not on the road guys! cant u get that common sense in ur mind? that is y i keep focusing on track performance of this car in my previous few comments, keep ur speed hunger on the track, but drive responsibly on the road! open track day at SIC is just rm200 from 2pm~5pm on certain sunday! isnt tat worth less than ur life n other’s life on the road? n most of all, u hv fun enjoying the ride n put it to it’s limit!

i have a question paul, does both package A n B inclusive of 1year fee for SIC open track day? and since u said the unit u tested was a test unit for development, do u have the chance to get ur hands on the real deal? hehe cz i bet many of us wan2 know how is the final product looks n perform, better still, on the track

chances are it’s gonna spend most of its time on public roads. and every idiot knows that when u r on the roads anything can happen, even if you dont hit anyone, someone else might hit you. so when they do, wouldn’t u wish u had an airbag instead of a momo steering upon which your brains are now splattered?

and if u want a car exclusively for the track, the satria neo r3 wouldnt cut it either.
i guarantee you that it’ll be much more effective to buy a baseline satria neo, strip everything, dump in a better engine, some decent coilovers, or a roll cage if u want, and it’ll run rings around the r3 neo. and probably cost u a whole lot less.

u can do watever u wan to ur car, just like those who wan2 mod their civic to b type r, but there r certain people would like to go for mod tat is developed by teams tat knows what they r doing n u dnt have to do trial n error to get the optimum compromise for road n track

that was a personal slight. where did i ever imply that i have fun illegally on the roads?
pls stick to the topic, we are talking purely about the satria neo r3, which is a ROAD CAR, whatever anyone else says. if it were meant as a track car, then why is it sold as a ROAD CAR?
my rationale for my comments are purely centred on comparing it to other respectable fast hatches. and all of them have airbags and abs. and they are also a lot more focused than the neo r3 will ever be. heard of the renaultsport clio v6? it corners harder, goes faster, is more radical, and much much rawer then the r3 neo, but guess what, it has airbags and abs!

scirocco, cant u c how many steps u have to go b4 u can achieve wat u mentioned? some people just wan it done, but not by themselves. there are people like that around, and those people choose factory fit rather than run around shops to get tune n retune to get best result.

run around r3 neo many times is still depends on the driver, perhaps i can meet u on the track 1 day vf the neo u fantasized, n perhaps demonstrate to me how u do tat.

comparing the v6 clio as its a more focused car ie track car wannabe like the neo r3.
anyway, i agree, its not going anywhere.
if people can live without airbags and abs then its up to them. just makes us wonder if the rest of the world are idiots in specifying them as mandatory.

Ok maybe not the Clio V6, that one was a lunatic mid engined limited run.

Take the new Renaultsport Clio (chose Cup/197 or the R27 F1) then. Still has all the safety gear, goes like a bat out of hell, handle like a go kart and cheap to boot…

Still a 4 cyc. What are you going to pull out now, saying its not fair because the Clio has a 2.0L?

Moot point anyway, can’t buy one now even if I wanted to.

I don’t know, I just feel that R3 could have done a better job for a “flagship”. Perhaps they still have a more powerful R3 GTi sometime down the road. I’m not surprised if R3 can find another 30-40hp from that CPS Campro with bolt-ons and an ECU flash.

relax guys this car will only 50 hits the road…its not a mass prod car….the buyer must have a reason why he/she spend a lot of money on this car…even without ABS, EBD, or airbags….if you not appreciate the effort at least 50 people are appreciating this beauty including one Japaneses….drive safe….

i simply couldnt believe my eyes when we have people comparing f1 lah, michael schumacher lah, to the satria neo r3! it is a road car, and no matter what u say at the end of the day airbags and abs are important. maybe some people fancy themselves as very good drivers, but the sad truth is, almost none are. and even michael schumacher gets into accidents!
â€œthis car (Satria Neo R3) will not forgive you if it catches you day dreaming while drivingâ€ does that mean that youâ€™ll pay for it with your life? or with a serious injury?
is this your idea of a fun car???
———————–
I did NOT make comparisons wit F1 cars in performance sense, but the philosophical part of it, like which one is better for a sports car: airbags or control (through handling n power)?

Read my warning as well: “Incompetent noobs can gtfo, buy a Toyota n live wit it happily ever after (n maybe sell it back wit good secondhand value).” The business of driving has never been a child’s game which requires just a few hours of trainin n some duit kopis to be legally able to take the wheels. Why do you think Msia always hv the highest accident death rate in the world? Just to let you know, studies hv always shown that the driver, rather than the car, is MOSTLY responsible for the cause of accidents. No amount of safety, nt even the latest “uncrashable” S-class can save lives if the driver is just plain incompetence.

The same rule of noobs shud gtfo can be said for supercars, Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, etc. One of the biggest issue wit today’s supercars (aside from environmental issues) is that they’re too advanced for the drivers, which are mostly millionaires who wants to show off, rather than be truly enjoying the sheer of driving those supercars offer. They just couldn’t be bothered to improve their skills, n true enuf, they’ll eventually get bitten by the car, n quite a number of ppl hv died or fatally wounded in supercars. You might want to read the ironic truths of supercars here:
http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/news/article1358351.ece

Yet, those brand’s exclusivity which attracts rich ppl to be interested in it, rite? That’s just what R3 is doin, only at a much, much lower scale, n at a lower cost. They’re doin it the way they’ve been tought by their mentor: instead goin all out wit V12s etc, they’re doin it wit a normal 1.6 car. But one fact that never change is that these machines will demand more from the driver, so if you’re just not up for it, gtfo. Often, it’s the driver’s attitude towards their driving that causes accidents. So just maybe, it’s a good thing for this Satria Neo R3 to be hated: so that “potential customers” with just half-assed will can forget abt owning it. This car, is strictly for people who are committed and take full responsibility to driving, but wish for it to be flexible enuf for normal road…and has a fetish for Satria Neo. So they’re not for chickens who’ll worry all the time whether they’ll make mistake, n further panic for not having airbags (bucket seats and seatbelts shud be sufficient to hold the driver in place). That is why, I recommend these kind of ppl to cower into their safety zone, which a Toyota can provide perfectly. They hardly ever require a driver’s commitment to driving, they give the sense that they’re built after screened by every single humanitarian n religious law that can possibly be written since the beginning age of mankind, a true politically correct car. Nothing wrong wit that, bt nothing exciting. At all. Just play safe, instead of play smart, that is, a higher level of driver skill’s competence. To some, especially enthusiasts with a very competent driving skill, that is too boring.

Folks, safety first. Why are we even arguing about this? Safety FIRST, always. No airbags, then install rollcage, and vice versa. Not just ’empty’. It’s just a matter of the ability of the tuners to make it(safety features) so that it can be turned on or off(for trackdays). The next batch of R3s must consider safety features. Stage 1 mod for RM28k is too much i’d say.

The next batch will be fitted with CPS VIM and a type of charger, be it turbo or super. Guess how much that’ll cost. It’s a trackday car only if the whole trackday consists of R3 Neos. If that’s not the case then it ain’t what it is.

It’s a matter of supply and demand, if it sells, why sell 50 only? Even superleggra cars are not that exclusive.

i understand, it is good that this car is hated by most and loved by people who think everyone else are noobs and deluding themselves that by loving this car despite its glaring lack of safety gear, they are associating themselves in someway with driving competence.

its so nice to see that this car is loved mostly by wannabe racers who in real life will get no closer to the track an glory than holding on to their momo steerings and daydreaming of duking it with schumi or alonso or whoever strikes your chord.

me, i remain firmly convinced of my driving mediocrity, and remain convinced that safety is paramount. i think highly of my own life, and cannot accept that anyone else (especially car manufacturers) think anything less. of course from this list of comments there remains people who think their lives are worth no more than a couple of thrills, but thats okay, we all have our personal opinions. lets agree to disagree.

Guys, trust me… neo chassis is stronger than what you all think… my brother.. totalled his M line neo in head on collision with new Toyota Hilux .. he escapes with broken right leg and bruised hand (pre tensined seat belt effect)… result for that huge Hilux… also total loss….

Read my previous article for my thoughts on how Proton could fit into the Indian automotive industry: Proton and the Indian automotive industry. It was written before the Saga launch so at that point we were still speculating the Sagaâ€™s dimensions.

On the local scenes, there will be something nice from Proton next week ;)
_________________________________________________________________________

– Hey, is this the “something nice from Proton”??? or should I be still waiting?? :P

guys guys.. what i can simplify here are 2 things, ones go for the need of SRS and another the power

as for the SRS i guess, u should buy the Hi line then upgrade the additional R3 kits as u want as the only thing missing between the NR3 is the prefix serial number.

is it ok?

about the power thing, its only stage 1 – 2. Another upgrade is stage 3 then u can get more. if it isnt enuff, then bolt on the turbokit.

n as the CPS or the new air intake, this car was developed b4 the new system being commercially launched.

perhaps the next persona, gen.2 or saga R3 will be based on CPS or maybe wth the SRS

n guys, i did involved in a crash before wth my turbo powered car into a concrete wall. I survived because of the pre-tensioned belt (thanx God) that strapped me to the Recaro and the SRS deploy burning my sweater and bursting n hurting my chest

I know n feeling the importance of the SRS but I guess the sealtbelt save me from hitting the steering then the srs deployed. my fren next to me was also strapped to the seat.

if u r not comparing, then why bring it up???
——————
>>>As I said, it’s the philosophical part of developing a performance car that I’m trying to point. I’m tryin to open up ppl’s way of seeing things through seeing what the professional racers see. As the saying goes (roughly, I dun remember the exact words), “To become a very skilled investigator/police, he must be able to think like a very skilled crook”. Have you watched “Catch Me If You Can” starring Tom Hanks and DiCaprio? Di Caprio, who started out as a very skilled money forger, end up helping the police to effectively detect forged money as well as developing better anti-forge features for banks.

To build a sports car, one (R3 in this case) has to see what professional drivers want. Drivers want control n power, if they can get these two, it compensates not having airbags n ABS.

One might be thinking rollcage will then be necessary, bt then again, there needs to be a balance with practicality, as this car may be needed to be driven on normal roads too.

I’m not really anti-airbags, my opinion on airbags is providing it the way as it is: an optional equipment for h-line/premium models. Thing is, airbags can be fatal too IF one is not wearing seatbelts, which is a common scene in Msia. Until we’ve developed a culture of wearing seatbelts not for the sake of avoidin having to pay duit kopi to policemen, I think it shud just be provided as an optional equipment. Kalau ada lagi bagus, tak ada pula tak bermaksud dunia dah nak kiamat.

On that note, just maybe, to force Msians to weat seatbelts, P1, P2, Naza etc should provide cars with a sensor to detect how many people in the car, and an annoying warning alarm that won’t go off until EVERYONE wears seatbelt. I read an article on the previous generation C-class a few years ago having the warning alarm, and I’m appalled to read the writer complaining about it. Just reflects the Msian attitude on the most important safety equipment in automotive history? Yes, it may be high-pitched (according to the writer lah, any C-class owner to testify this?), but that’s the way it should be. Hm…sounds kinda sadistic, I like it, muahahahahaha……

Does airbags really cushion you from impact? Well, yes, more so if you’re not belted, but as it cushions you, the noise and impact when airbags deploy can be fatal. My friend who’s involved in an accident las year broke a few of his ribs because of the airbag (as well as bcuz he hit a tree), and that is while he’s wearing seat belts. In that situation, to me, a strong chassis and wearing seatbelts is of utmost importance, others come as a supplement, which is what airbags is otherwise known: Supplementary Restraint System (SRS). There’s also another post by Paul abt a woman suffering a third-degree burn bcuz of airbag deployment before too.

ABS, hm……well ok, I’ll agree it is necessary, more so with auto cars. A manual car usually has better braking, and adding ABS would enhance, rather than supplement its effectiveness…theoretically IMHO. Bt then again, this Neo R3 is equipped wit slotted brake discs, so it’s pretty much more effective than a normal Neo.

Clio V6 more radical and rawer than Neo R3? Then it’s all the more reason to stay away from that car then if one’s unconvinced with his/her driving skills. It has airbags n ABS? Ahahah. Now that’s all the more dangerous really: the delusion of thinkin “it has airbags n ABS, so it must be safe.” Dam right he’s/she’s gonna get bitten, chewed, n digested by the car if you’re gonna buy it on that basis. As I said, even the “uncrashable” S-class cannot save the lives of four ppl in last year’s accident, it’s really up to the driver to take control of his/her safety. One may say “I’ll drive it sensibly then,” which kills the point of getting the hot hatch in the first place. That, is why, it’s better off for ppl who wants to drive it sensibly to get a toyota: more practical for all his/her non-sporty activities, cleaner for the environment, chews less fossil fuels, more reliable, ‘safer’, cheaper n has better second-hand value.

Hah the noise and impact of the airbag fatal! Would you rather hit an airbag or the steering column? Ever think that your friend that broke his ribs on that dangerous airbag might have been killed without it? Guess the tree didn’t care too much about how well his car handled?

And you’ve certainly got some misguided notions about what “professional drivers” want. Last I checked, they’ve got families they wouldn’t mind seeing again. And if anything, experience makes them more aware that unavoidable accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, hence safety sure as hell being important to them. They don’t live in some wannabe fantasy world thinking they’re invincible cause they gotz mad skillz yo. Maybe you’re confusing some local rempits with real pros but I assure you safety comes first in real motorsport. Perhaps thats why F1 spends millions every year on safety R&D, the REAL reason F1 fatalities are down, not just because of (???) better behaved drivers and handling. They want to win, but it’s hard to win points when your number one’s dead or in hospital.

And rip on Toyota all you like, but cars like the Celica All-Trac and MR2 are way purer and better sports cars than anything Proton ever has or ever will produce. With airbag and ABS to boot. Even Lotus, which you love to cite, has dual airbags and ABS standard what. And about your earlier statement:
—
t may b noisy, it may be stiff, bt it certainly isnâ€™t as nighmarish to drive on normal roads as a Lotus nor far too weak against a Lotus on a track.
—
Lotuses drive fine on the street, and this car would get utterly destroyed by a Lotus on the track.

And saying slotted brake discs can substitute for ABS makes me wonder if you really know what slotted discs and ABS are.

Really don’t know why some people here have such an almost-superstitious dislike of safety features. Of course the driver is the most important, but having some safety features to back him up when things go wrong is a GOOD thing, not bad. And not providing them in this day and age is indefensible. Look, if you wanna drive a saga/wira/whatev with no modern safety features, fine with me. But to spread misinformation about this technology, that you’ve garnered from gross misinterpretation of news events and your own imagination, is really poor form.

My fren’s car was Honda Civic 2.0, the latest gen. He hit a tree, spun a few times nden stopped completely. THEN ONLY the airbags deployed. Hell yeah, dam right the seatbelt saved him, not the airbags. Was he thankful for the airbags? Well…..yes, he did get to skip class longer.

If drivers rly want safety so much, airbags would’ve been installed, traction control wouldn’t be banned this yr, the cockpit shud be covered with polycarbonate or sumthin, et cetera. See the one thing in common in those safety devices? None really contribute much to adding speed and giving better control. But using carbon fibre, ceramic brakes, improve aerodynamic, that is killing two birds with one stone. They can make the car go n stop faster, n they make the car safer.

ABS helps especially in wet conditions, bt it’s not the oni way. A good tyre n better disc can help a car to gain control in wet conditions too…the brain (driver) must be able to adapt n make use of it. That matters most.

Those Toyota models may be sportier than any Proton, bt they’re easily crushed by its Honda, Mitsu, Subaru, Nismo etc rivals. Proton, hv the upperhand with Lotus, so just wait n see…

Also, bread-and-butter Toyotas can never ever be any sportier than Proton Wajas, Gen2, Satria Neo, Savvy, Persona n new Saga.

Have you ever been in a Lotus? My neighbor has it, n goddam every single bump is a nightmare. Neo R3 may get crushed, bt the point is, at least it can still give the trackday thrill anytime better than most cars in its price range.

Misinformation abt airbags? You’re the ignorant arse who couldn’t be bothered to find out the truth abt airbags. MB_321 hv just written abt his experience of being involved in an accident, n u dun seem to acknowledge it, instead prefer to jump to accusing me as having “such an almost-superstitious dislike of safety features”. Here I am, keep on giving hope to airbag-less n ABS-less car owners that “it’s not the end of the world if u dun hv an airbag n ABS”, that, rather than flaming proton for “not caring abt saving as many lives as possible” or “having no social corporate responsibility”, it’s better we look into ourselves n improve ourselves: always…AND ALWAYS…wear…SEATBELTS!! Signal before making any moves, maintain your car well, STAY ALERT.

Yea must be tiring having to come up with increasingly absurd comparisons and examples to support your ridiculous arguments for a lukewarm hatch. After all, in this thread you’ve compared this car to an Enzo, Lotus, F1 car so far, so what’s left lol.

And yeah, actually I have driven Lotus, that’s kind of why I responded to your BS assessment. Great and easy to run, even over speed bumps. Nice of you to backtrack so much though, from saying the satria could run with a lotus on the track to “more thrills than other 70k cars” …just a slight difference there! Funny too how you’re suddenly so delicate in a Lotus but would probably cheer a double solid axle suspension in a Proton if told it was for “hi performance!”

Please stop making people laugh with your crazy ideas about F1. Now they don’t install safety equipment unless it helps the car go faster? ROFL. Guess HANS must’ve knocked a second off of each lap before they installed it? And again you’re stupidly mixing up race cars and street cars, airbags are for street cars with 3 point belt, not race cars with roll cage helmet and racing harnesses. The Satria R3 is the former, in case you got delusional again just now.

And uh no, those Toyotas I mentioned easily held their own against their rivals worldwide when they were introduced. And many models are doing so today, Supras for instance, not even to mention the AEs. Where you get the idea that they get “crushed” is beyond me. Here’s a hint: performance is not measured by how many wannabes you see parked at Sunway, that for all the money sunk into them are only used to show off and bully slow cars.

You yourself seem to have kind of missed the fact that the guy you cited agrees on the importance of airbags at the end of it all.
Mb_321 said,

*I know n feeling the importance of the SRS but I guess the sealtbelt saved me from hitting the steering n the srs deployed as secondary support. my fren next to me also survived.

Sure sounds a lot different from what you probably interpreted it as. (airbag useless kekeke) Seems he recognizes that just because it may not have been needed this time doesn’t mean it’s never needed. So quit taking isolated incidents and making it out like they’re the norm. Like you keep doing with that stupid S-class that was racing in a construction zone. OMG they died = S-class safety features worthless!

On ABS, if you still think it can be substituted for by a “better disc” in wet conditions there’s obviously no point trying to explain braking to you.

If people want to improve themselves and their driving skills, I am all for it. If they do so and are let down by a company years behind the times in safety, what then? Of course driver skills are paramount, but neither can even very skilled drivers always avoid accidents. To believe otherwise is foolish.

fastcx, you obviously think this car is good. With regards to the ABS issue, other manufacturers can calibrate their systems to intervene later, so it doesnt dull the performance. Proton cant be stuffed doing it so they just dump the whole ABS in the bin, and then you people say that its better without it because its a track biased car. Yes it would perhaps be better on the track without ABS, but the bottom line is that this is a road going car, not a pure bred track car. Get real.

and that’s what i’ve been trying to drum in for the last dunno how many posts.
these guys who extol the virtues of the lack of airbags and abs are probably of the same mentality that removed the glovebox from the original gen2.
i’ve given up trying to convince people of the importance of abs and airbags, and indeed traction control.
having been one of the early adopters of the gti, i was looking fwd to owning the satria neo gti or r3, and was badly let down by this proton souffle.
so i’ll put my money where my mouth is, and NOT buy this.

total crap! only people who doesn’t know about modifications will buy this kind of car. A good example will be Myvi SE which cost nearly RM53k just to get all the bodykits but the interior & engine remains the same?!

these cars are for simple minded people who wants everything OEM & hassle free. Just pay the money & drive home the car concept. u get it?

I feel this is gettin tiring cuz we’re gettin nowhere. You fail to comprehend what I’m actually tryin to get across, and I’m not the kind of person who’s good at explaining without having the listener to have imagination ability. You certainly lack that, and you tend to be too objective in conprehending informations, so there’s no way our frequency can be harmonised. This argument is GG. Joo winz n pwnzorrz tokmoh’s head for 5000 golds. There, be happy that I’ve admitted defeat.

I loved to read all the arguments about the SRS, ABS & etc… I have to agreed to some of the comments made. The ‘Supplementary Restraint System’ (SRS) is just a supplementary safety device. It works in tandem with your safety belt in case of frontal or rear-end impact. It’s job it to cushion your body from impacting any interior parts of the car. Cars having both system doesn’t mean a safer car but it gives you a higher probability to survive or escape serious injury. The main safety device is still the car itself with a stiffer chassis and crumple zone to absorb the impact force. The best safety combination are your SRS, safety belts, all the electronics assistance and the most important parts is a well trained driver. So, to answer why Malaysia has a high number of road fatality? See what is in common with other countries and what is the difference? The almost same car, the same safety technology and …?

The enforcing of laws to forced car manufacturers to install all this safety features would be void if the mentality of our drivers are not changed. Drive your car today and see how many law breakers are on our roads? From minor infringement to road hooligans, there all Malaysian drivers. The attitude of ‘takpe, takde polis’, ‘orang lain buat, kenapa saya tidak boleh?’, ‘alah, bapa/pakcik/abang/(and so on) saya polis/JPJ , boleh slow talk’, ‘kampung/bandar aku, ikut suka aku lah’ and so on… how do you change that?

You can argue all you want in here, but what are you doing to change the real situation out there? Blaming the government? Blaming others but yourself? I am a competent driver, been driving for nearly 17 years (with a valid license mind you) and quite skillful behind the steering wheel but even I can’t guarantee that I won’t be involved in a road mishap. (had about 6 accidents in that 17 years – all was caused by the other driver… honestly) That made me more alert and observant when I drive but alas, there so many poor drivers on our road, it made the task more difficult everyday.

So the arguments about this car is justifiable but then again, also disputable. For all we may know, all the buyers of this LE Satria Neo R3 bought it for weekend or even serious track activities. Seriously how many people would buy a RM 71,000.00 car built with minimal noise insulation and quite harsh ride for normal everyday use(It doesn’t matter if they are just racer boy wannabe). The arguments are all based on assumption which to me is quite hilarious.

I drive a Waja CPS, the engine have the grunt lacking in the original CAMPRO and acceleration is quite brisk. So imagine what will happen with the 2 stage modification here done to this engine.

Some may say this car look daft and some may say it is stunning, is all depend on that person individual taste. Act maturely and respect others opinion.

BTW Paul, what is weight comparison between the R3 here with the standard Neo and the old Satria GTi?

It’s obvious the debate is still on for safety features of passenger cars. Many do not realize (or chose not to realize) there’re actually some direct science with car crash test. Some of these life saving technologies are derived from F1 drivers car-crash experience and some of it are even obtained from space-like technology. Whether we like it or not, there’re quite a lot of documentaries as well as research papers on car safety including “Air Bags”, “crumbling zone”, “ABS”, “EBD” and et-cetera. Although the relevance of this safety equipments is still well debated amongst the car users, but from scientific point of view; researchers have concluded that this safety equipments does help to reduce the number of fatality (for as long the air bag is deployed precisely as it should, well that’s another issue). They have run thousands of car crash test at their respective laboratory and also carried out actual case study on car accidents. Imagine the time and resources that have been spent (and leading car manufacturers are still spending large amount of capital on it) to improve road safety and for some of us to deny the importance of this safety features is what I describe as an act of a pure-ignorant. There’s absolutely no wrong for road users typically Malaysians to demand better car safety technology as “standards for all local-cars” from local car manufacturers cause it is already a life-saving-proven technology. Now it is up to the guys at Proton and Perodua to make sense out from it. Perhaps, we should let our newly elected MPs to bring-up the issues at the Parliament. Enough said.

paul,
is it possible for proton to upgrade neo like gen2 cps?
i mean the engine,interior,safety features..
neo basically looks great..neo r3 exterior is damn perfect..but if it comes with cps engine,abs,ebd,srs n lsd,this is an ek9 killer..even with this features,80k price tag will turn people on..damn proton..think like a racerboy aged 20-26 then u’ll know whats the market needs..

wtf is wrong with you pathetic drivers out there?? i’m not praising Proton for producing this nor i’m saying this R3 neo is full of sh*t.

Those of you who want an airbag in your car, then go get yourself a H-Line Neo or if you can afford other cars, go ahead, make sure they have Airbags, ABS, EBD, TCS etc etc etc. Because REAL DRIVERS NEED NO ABS etc etc. A driver will maximize the car’s performance and push it to its limit. Not judging what’s the car performance and demotivated by its small output, nor pushing the car over its limit to the extend endangering your life or other road users’ life.

Go learn more about driving then only come log on to paultan.org to comment on manufacturer’s car!!

i had learnt a lot from those dedicated comments. only R3 owners appreciates & know the passion n enjoyment of possessing an R3 tuned car. For next time, Own an R3 first, learn n enjoy ur R3, then comment. credit to the R3 dept guys who had really redefined a normal daily car to beyond the limit….

The Neo R3 is not such a crappy car afterall for some medium budget petrolheads… when you still see many other 1600cc cars, be it Jap or EU, around is nowhere near to have that kind of performance at that price. Maybe its not like a FordRacing/Cosworth superblock 1600cc engines or Honda's legendary 100bhp per litre B16 engines or the 190bhp 8 injectors SR16-N1, or the muscleblock 145hbp 4AGE, but it's a good buy. A true petrolhead should know what they see and think of a certain car's future, hence less complaining. RM70k something, you don't get a NEW car with a 200bhp VVT-equipped N/A engine, the interior luxury of a Toyota Aristo, and the handling of a Lotus Elise… don't you think so?… maybe a bit more money thrown in for some essential aftermarket performance parts, and suspension/handling items, you'd get a 150bhp/175Nm Neo that handles more to your liking… you can't have it all with a cheap offer, can you?

its proven. dont b upsad with your former 1.6 campro. i just tested, the same model, with minimum modification, just replace with new cylinder head/CPS, and some electronic touch, with less than RM1500, its work! its work!…so, dont be upsad, theres only new CPS cylinder head add-on the same engine…

Something tells me this car will be rubbish like the one before it. By todays standards, they should be serving up a car with either a turbo engine or supercharger that pumps out a healthy 200bhp at least.

And on a personal note, I think private individuals can do a better job at modifying their little protons instead of a bunch of over paid, so called research, race, whatever team. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who to approach if you want the best brake system (visit Alcon), or best suspension system (try Ohlins) or seats, engine mods, etc. Even our Uncle ‘Cat’ (malay for paint) down in Johor can paint up a dishy black looking car like this R3. Only difference is, Uncle-cat does it in his wooden hut.

So folks, my advice is go do it for yourselves. Its far better to be in a more rare and unique done up Satria Neo rather than by a team of ding-dongs. My question to the latter.., is that the best you guys can come up with? Honestly,.. really???

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